Fearne Cotton’s Top Interior Tips

As Fearne Cotton has been announced as the Dulux Colour of the Year 2019 Ambassador, we take a look at her top interiordesign tips.

We’re settling into 2019, what interior changes will you make?
Colour is the quickest way to make a change in your home. What’s key is to take a step back and really think about how you want to live in that room – is this space to think? To dream? To love? To act? Start with what your home needs to give you and then start to look at the colours that will help you achieve that. Having worked with Dulux, I understand how colour will help me and my family feel an even greater sense of positivity at home.

Spiced Honey was designed to capture the mood of positive change, what do you think of when you see the colour?
Dulux Colour of the Year, Spiced Honey, is a colour that brings so much comfort and warmth, which is so important in our home. It’s a very optimistic colour. It makes you feel cheerful, hopeful … and life is always so busy it helps me to keep looking forward. To have a colour that has that power is quite special. Of course, I love the name too, my daughter is called Honey and I chose it because it has gorgeous and sensory connotations.

How could you see Spiced Honey being used in your home?
I’m exploring how it would work on the fifth wall – so the ceiling of my bedroom. I don’t have any painted ceilings, but I love the idea of lying in bed and allowing the power of the colour to wash over me. I’m experimenting with different tones and textures from the Dulux Dream palette. I love the idea of Dulux Floating Petal – a very dusty, light pink on the walls – I think it would give the space a real twist.

Dulux Colour of 2019 Spiced Honey

Where is your sanctuary in the home?
Our house is constantly full of people, mess and chaos and I love it! With two kids, two step kids and our many different schedules our home needs to meet all of our needs. That’s why, my bedroom is my sanctuary. It’s a grown up space that’s calming and dreamy. When I want to affect change in myself, it’s here that I go to first.

What colours do you find the most calming in your bedroom?
It’s about how the colour makes you feel and how it connects you to your surroundings in a way that’s meaningful for the way you live your life. For some, it could be a deep shade of red or a rich burgundy. It’s whatever you feel it is. For others, relaxation might be a light, wistful colour like a soft grey or a delicate pink. I can be quite hyper, energetic, lots of ideas buzzing in head, lots of things to do…. so, in my bedroom, I need calming colours.

Dulux Cotton Dreams

How does your bedroom need to feel?
When I’m in my bedroom I like to feel cocooned. Colour plays a big part in that – and so does the texture of the soft furnishing. I love stretching out in bed, buried in a fluffy duvet with my head on soft pillows and just taking a moment for myself – before all the chaos starts again. My bedroom is my small, cosy nook that’s feels all mine.

How important is it to create a welcoming and cosy home?
We are a family who love to have lots of people over. I want everyone to feel they’re at home, the vibe has to be cosy, especially in the living room. I’m not into hard lines and cold colours or spaces that feel stark. When people walk in the door, I want them to smell a nice candle or some coffee brewing and to see colours that make them feel relaxed and welcome.

How do you create that relaxed vibe in your living room?
The decor in my living room is organised chaos and trinkets – it’s homely but the overwhelming feeling is that I can relax here and let my guard down. It’s not a space of perfection and symmetry, it’s a place of comfort. By thinking about how we want to feel when we are in a room, it’s possible to create spaces in the home where you feel optimistic. Leaving some of the worries of the day at the front door.

Dulux Spiced Honey

How do you feel about using colour?
There are so many places to find inspiration about colour, and the palettes for Dulux Colour of the Year are a great starting point, but, once you open that tin of paint – you’ve got to be brave and just go for it. I know it can feel scary, but there’s a lovely moment of victory when you get it on the walls and it really changes the space.

Mental health is on people’s agendas in 2019 like never before. What advice can you give on how to be more mindful?
Mindfulness is all about the little changes. There’s no climbing a mountain or instantly taking a great leap. All good changes are small ones. There can be big life-changing impactful moments like going travelling, or having a baby, but the ones that we make conscious decisions on each day are small.

Incremental steps are best to feel calmer, happier, more grounded and content. Each day just taking stock, taking personal inventory, looking around you, appreciating the simple things, having gratitude. It’s tiny little things that add up to make a whole, but also that are going to last you the long run.

Why do you think people need to be more mindful and conscious of their wellbeing?
In the modern world, with so much confusion and complication, many of us are going back to basics. This means simple acts like getting outside, getting air, appreciating colours, how we feel in the moment and our reaction to things around us. When we’re staring at our phones, we forget to see the blue of the sky, the sunlight hitting the pavement and even the colour on the walls. It’s so obvious, but something so many of us overlook.

Having colour in our homes is a really lovely way to re-connect. It can alter our moods or enhance the feeling we want to have when we step into a room.

Rosalind Erskine

I write features and web articles for No.1 Magazine on everything from interiors and homes to beauty, fashion and food and drink.